


Dressed In White

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Y-G-October 2018 [27]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys in dresses, Destiny, Family Secrets, Fate & Destiny, M/M, Magic, Magic Revealed, Parties, Prophecy, Riddles, Secrets, Selkies, Shapeshifting, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 19:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16435733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: "Meet her dressed in white, she'll marry you and live a long, sweet life"Be it conscious or unconscious, Atem always found himself gravitating towards people dressed in white for that very reason... Typically, that isThere was, however, one other part of the song that he had never figured out, one that always had his curiosity peaked for another color"Meet her dressed in blue, she'll tell you secrets you never knew"He had always questioned his mother on that part, but she had never answered himDay 27 of Y-G-October 2018





	Dressed In White

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Finaiarel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finaiarel/gifts).



> I love selkies, ok? And I really need to write more selkie stuff, so I used "Secrets", from this challenge http://horrificmemes.tumblr.com/post/177941943723/its-that-tiiiime-just-like-last-fall-im-giving as my chance to do such, but I need to do something that focuses a little more on the selkies themselves honestly
> 
> Also, I love Yugioh boys in dresses, ok?
> 
> And the song mentioned in the story is based on "Sealion Woman" by Feist, I... took some liberties...

Atem's mother had been an eccentric woman

He loved her to bits and peices, and his father adored her as if she had hung the moon, but she was a little _odd_

She used to tell him all sorts of strange stories and folk tales, singing bizarre songs and telling him odd little riddles and rhymes about life

He used to take them all so seriously when he was a child

Never pick a flower without offering a gift of food in it's place, or the Fae Folk will become angry

Never take a photo of the person standing behind you, or you may find out they're actually a doppelganger

Never talk to birds after midnight, or you may lose your soul

He used to believe them all so entirely, so truthfully....

He would listen to all of her strange warnings and heed each and every one

He was wary of strangers and never swam unsupervised and never, ever sang when the moon was full

But long after her death, and well into his teen years, he very slowly started to let go of these traditions

He still kept up with some of them, but others- particularly the stranger ones- he usually let go of

Except for one

There was one very strange tradition that he- if a bit unconsciously- still took to heart

There was a song associated with it, though it had been so long since he'd heard it that he couldn't remember the tune, he did remember the jist of the reasoning behind it

Supposedly, the color of the clothes you first meet someone in will determine what sort of relationship you have with them

For example, _"Meet her dressed in red, she'll smile at you when she wakes up in your bed"_

Supposedly, this was the sign of a short but passionate affair

_"Meet her dressed in green, she'll bring about more riches than you've ever seen"_

This one was a sign of a financially successfull, but emotionless relationship

_"Meet her dressed in black, she'll wink at you then stab you in the back"_

This one was.... rather self-explanatory

It went on and on, but there was one that Atem always unconsciously favored, the best of the song

_"Meet her dressed in white, she'll marry you and live a long, sweet life"_

Be it conscious or unconscious, Atem always found himself gravitating towards people dressed in white for that very reason

... Typically, that is

There was, however, one other part of the song that he had never figured out, one that always had his curiosity peaked for another color

_"Meet her dressed in blue, she'll tell you secrets you never knew"_

He had always questioned his mother on that part, but she had never answered him

It kept him curious for people dressed in blue, even though he tried hard over the years to shake himself of this ridiculous habbit

It all came to a head one night, however, when he happened to be at a black-tie event for his freind's company

Honestly, he always hated fancy things, he always hated wearing fancy clothes too, and tonight was no exception

He knew that the fund-raiser was important to Seto, wich is the only reason he was there to begin with, but there was an itch under his skin that he was growing increasingly desperate to scratch, one that thrummed with the urge to get rid of the suit he had been shoved into and put on some _real_ clothes

Or go swimming, that was an option too

Atem had always loved the water, he had always loved to swim, and even though it was late October now and well past the opportune swimming weather, he couldn't help feeling a little bitter about the fact that they were only a few yards away from the beach for this event and yet there was no way for him to head out and have a swim...

He was in the middle of being frustrated by this fact when he happened to glance up from his table .. and feel his heart practically stutter

Walking into the ballroom was the most beautifull person Atem had ever seen

He was short and soft and pale, with wide violet eyes and plush lips, small features and tri-colored hair in blonde, black, and violet, and he was wearing the most stunning white dress

Haltered in the back and with a wide, flowing skirt, it looked sort of like a Marilyn Monroe dress

He was so busy having his breath taken away by the beauty, in fact, that he didn't even notice that the stunning creature was walking towards him

"Is this seat taken?" he asked with a polite smile

Atem blinked, quickly shaking his head and offering a shy smile as the stranger pulled out the chair just across from him

"I take it you're a freind of Seto's as well?"

"I-I am," Atem replied with a shy smile, his face turning pink

"I've known him for quite some time, we've been freinds for a few years now... how do you know him?"

"We've been business partners for about two years, I'm a game designer,"

"Wow, that's... impressive," Atem mused with a grin

"I'm a mangaka, not nearly so fancy," he teased

"Oh that's not true, I love manga, you have to be really talented to do that!" the stranger insisted

"Usually, but I'm really not so sure, I'm only on my first series, the first takubon just came out a few months ago so-"

"Really? What's it called?"

"Red Fireflies,"

Apparently that struck a chord of recognition in the stranger, considering the expression of sheer amazement and awe that lit across his face

"I love that series! I've been following it since it first started in Betsucomi, I can't believe you write that!"

Atem... really wasn't sure what to do with all of that praise, not only had he not expected anyone to be familiar with his series, but he hadn't been expecting so much adoration once the stranger found out that he was a male writing for a female aimed magazine

Though, in fairness, the guy _was_ wearing a cocktail dress, so he supposed that gender stereotypes weren't exactly something the stranger was fond of

"O-Oh um, I'm sorry, I've been so rude, I'm Yugi,"

Atem smiled shyly, reaching out to shake the stranger's hand

"Atem," he greeted in return

"My name is Atem,"

 

~+~

 

The next two hours with Yugi are possibly the best that Atem has ever had, and though he tries not to allow his mother's old stories to influence his feelings, he can't help noticing the fact that Yugi is dressed all in white

He's so sweet and soft, so lovely and gentle, and Atem can't help but think about what his mother had always said

_"Meet her dressed in white, she'll marry you and live a long, sweet life"_

That should apply to men too, right?

They spent the entire night talking, barely paying any mind to the charity auction going on behind them, until, that is, one item in particular came up that seemed to catch Yugi's attention

"Oh! A Senna-Kun dog! I've been waiting to find one of those!" he beamed excitedly

"A fan of Beanie Babies?" Atem asked with a soft smile

"Well, yes, but mostly I just really want to have one for when I have kids, it'd be nice for them to have such a valuable collector's peice, you know?"

Atem was _in love_

He watched Yugi participate in the auction, a bit too preoccupied with his own thoughts of trying to come up with the best way to ask if he could see Yugi again, to notice when the auction ended and Yugi suddenly stood up, wich was exactly when a waiter carrying a tray of drinks happened to pass by, and ofcourse, at the most inopportune moment, they collided, and some sort of bright blue drink spilled all over Yugi's beautifull white dress

It seemed that everything from that moment on passed in flashes

Seto, who had been watching the auction from a table nearby, was on his feet quickly, trying to guide Yugi out of the ballroom to get cleaned up, the waiter was quickly rambling apologies as he tried to clean up what had spilled on the floor, and Yugi was shouting promises to Atem that he would see him again once he had cleaned up

It took several moments for Atem to even process what had happened, but once he did...

Well, needless to say he was left a little shell-shocked, and more than a little disappointed

He didn't want to be away from Yugi, wich he knew was an absolutely crazy way to feel about someone who he had just met, but he couldn't help himself, his heart had always been soft, always gotten extremely attached to people extremely quickly, he wasn't exactly surprised that he had fallen for Yugi so hard so fast

He only hoped that his feelings would be reciprocated

 

~+~

 

Yugi didn't return until the auction was over, everyone was getting ready to go home, things were being cleaned up, and Atem had begun getting worried that he had been forgotten

Or that Yugi had simply left him

When Atem finally did notice his new freind's beautifull face peek around the corner, he practically jumped from his seat, hurrying towards him and smiling brightly

"Yugi! I was starting to get worried," he commented, only then noticing what his date- could he call him a date yet?- was wearing

It was a beautifull, sparkling, midnight blue cocktail dress

He looked.... _gorgeous_....

"Sorry, I couldn't find anything in the spare clothes that fit.. except this... though I'm sure it looks pretty silly," he mused with a dark blush, his eyes still cast down at the floor

Atem was quick to shake his head, offering a sweet, adoring smile as he reached out to gently take Yugi's hand

"You look many things Yugi, but 'silly' is most certainly not one of them, you are undoubtedly the most beautifull person I've ever seen," he said seriously, his expression gentle and loving as he carefully squeezed the other's hand

"I-.... I ... am....?"

"You are, ofcourse you are," he promised, staring down at Yugi's dress again

_"Meet her dressed in blue, she'll tell you secrets you never knew"_

Huh, it was peculiar... the two colors he had always been drawn to, and in a single evening, Yugi had worn them both...

"Forgive me if this is presumptuous, but would you like to get out of here? It's just... the auction is closed now and-"

"Oh! Right! Um, yes, I just need to talk to Seto about my dress and the auction I won, but um... I'll meet you at the door in a few minutes? I .. actually was hoping we could continue our evening elsewhere,"

Atem's heart practically leaped, a bright smile on his face as he eagerly nodded his agreement

 

~+~

 

Yugi truly must have been his soulmate, how else could all of these magnificent similarities be explained?

Apparently Yugi loved the beach just as much as Atem did, considering the two of them were currently strolling along the shore on a late October evening, neither seeming to care for even a second about the chill in the air or the water brushing up against Yugi's bare feet- he was currently carrying his shoes, heels aren't exactly great for walking on sand, after all

He had never thought that he could connect so fully, so thoroughly, so completely to any other soul, and yet here he was with Yugi, doing exactly that

They had been talking as they walked along the beach for just under an hour, and Atem couldn't even remember what had started the conversation's current topic to begin with, but that was ok, he didn't mind, he was just happy to be in Yugi's presence, no matter the reasoning for it

"So your mother used to tell you these folk stories, and you believe most of them?"

Oh, that's right, that was the topic of conversation

"Yes, I know it probably sounds foolish..."

"Not at all, I greatly admire such devotion as a matter of fact, so you said one of the rules was never to talk to birds after midnight, what else was there?"

"Oh ah.... well, actually, she had this ... very interesting take on clothing,"

"Oh?"

"Yes, something about the clothing color that your lover is wearing when you first meet, for example red meant a short but passionate affair, green meant wealth but a lack of emotion, white meant that you would get married and-"

"Have a long sweet life,"

Atem paused, confusion on his face as he stared at his partner

"That.... that's right, how did you know that?"

It was by far not a popular rhyme, it wasn't like many of the other more common children's fables, so ...?

Yugi looked oddly.... _content_ , as if Atem had just told him the answer to a question he had been wanting answers to for the past decade

"Your mother... her name was Nefert right?"

That- .... how could he have known that...?

"How do know that? I've never told anyone that, not even Seto-"

"My grandfather knew her, we.... well, the generation before mine anyway... they _all_ knew her, everyone was really sad when she left but we were told that one day her son would find one of us, and when he did-"

"Wait, what are you talking about? What do you mean 'we'?"

Yugi's face was soft, knowing, as he gently squeezed Atem's hand and pulled him further down the beach

"Yugi, please, I don't understand-"

"You will soon, I promise," he said with a bright smile, pulling Atem further and further until finally they arrived at a small cavern just off the shore, where the water first began to meet the sand

Wordlessly, he set his shoes down and took off his dress, Atem flushing red at the sight, before the smaller man disappeared inside the cavern

"We've been waiting for so long.... we all know where this was hidden, just in case we were to find you,"

" _Please_ Yugi," Atem sighed as he waited for the other to emerge

"What are you talk- .. ing... about....."

When Yugi emerged, he was holding two large, sleek, grey pelts....

_Seal pelts_

Atem took an instinctive step back, but that didn't seem to detour the other, who calmly and simply put one of the pelts down in front of him, before holding the other close to him, hugging it against his body before stepping forward, reaching out to gently cup Atem's face

"You're starting to understand now... aren't you? Who you are? _What_ you are? Neferet always said that whoever would tell her son of his true self would be destined to marry him, I guess she really was a prophet,"

And then, as if he hadn't just dropped the world's biggest bombshell on Atem's life, he leaned up and gave him a soft kiss, almost as if it were incentive, encouragement, before stepping back and smiling mischievously, draping the pelt like a coat around his shoulders as a soft white light began glowing around him

And when the light faded, Yugi was no longer there, in his place, was a cute, plump little seal, who just.... _stared_ at Atem... as if expectingly

This couldn't be real

This couldn't be happening

And yet.......

Slowly, he reached down, picking up the pelt and draping it around his shoulders just as Yugi had

A deep, satisfying warmth began to fill his body, and with it, information began flowing through his mind, like secrets pouring out into his thoughts

Secrets that belonged to him, secrets that didn't belong to him, the knowledge of the earth and the world around him and- ... 

The knowledge of the seal-folk

 _Yes_ , Atem realized as he opened his eyes, feeling renewed in a way he never had before

Suddenly all of his mother's stories and riddles and fables made sense...

They weren't the ramblings of a crazy woman, they were the long-forgotten tales of a _selkie_

And Atem, he realized, was a selkie too- destined for the sea, and for a lover dressed in white and blue, just as his mother had predicted


End file.
